


We Could Be Heroes

by fullmetal anime (sunkelles)



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), The Good Place (TV), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Feminism, Gen, PRIME TIME, Talk Shows, Television Program
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 19:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18483103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/fullmetal%20anime
Summary: Activist Tahani Al-Jamil, Support Engineer Melissa Shield, and Professional Hero Monica Rambeau are on the same episode of a talk show called GIRL POWER





	We Could Be Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> did i really write a world with quirks where the afterlife is the good place system and also captain marvel exists? apparently. apparently i did that. that's what i wanted for my birthday this year was to sit down and write whatever this is XD
> 
> this fic uses the same format, talk show, and oc as another fic i wrote about amy santiago, elena alvarez, and leslie knope last year. hope someone likes it :) that fic is called GIRL POWER: a talk show for the politically active woman

 

 

The camera pans to a dark stage. Suddenly, it fills with light.The floor of the stage is a soft, brown wood and the backdrop is an off-white color that’s easy on the eyes. The two bright green arm chairs with fading pink, floral print that sit in the middle of the stage are not, although they make the atmosphere seem more comfortable and cozy. A guitar gently starts to strum through the speakers, joined quickly with a flute. Then a woman’s voice softly sings, “I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too great to ignore-” 

The studio audience starts to clap and cheer. Helen Reddy keeps singing, but it’s hard to make out over the sound of the cheering. A white woman in her early forties walks out onto the stage. She’s wearing a blouse with horizontal burgundy and white stripes, a pair of black slacks, and a pair of black, leather ballet flats. Her blonde but graying hair is pulled back into a messy bun. 

“I am woman hear me roar,” Helen Reddy croons one more time. The crowd cheers louder. 

“I hear you roaring, ladies,” the host says, grinning wider as the music starts to fade out. 

“Today, we’ll hear from three impressive women.” The woman laughs. 

“I mean, we  _ always  _ do that, but these three are pretty special. These women are heroes, really. Today we’ll be speaking to a socialite turned activist, a world renowned support technology specialist, and the newest Captain Marvel.” She sends the camera a winning smile. 

“I’m Amanda Ashford and this is Girl Power.” She walks towards one of the ugly floral armchairs and sits down. Then, she gestures stage right. 

“First, we have Tahani Al-Jamil. Ms. Al-Jamil was born to Pakistani British parents in London and attended university in Paris. She's spent much of her life traveling to different exotic cities, planning and hosting charity galas. Ms. Al-Jamil is now lives in Sydney, Australia.” The clacking sound of high heels clacking on hardwood can be heard before the woman can be seen. Then, Ms. Al-Jamil steps into the light. She’s a tall woman, made taller by sky high heels. In the heels, she’s more than six feet tall. Her black hair falls past her shoulders in perfect, loose curls. 

Her dark hair and medium skin contrast against her pastel blue dress. She wears a single string of pearls that sits perfectly above the heart-shaped top of her dress. As she smiles, she reveals a set of bright white, perfectly aligned teeth. 

“Wow,” Amanda says, eyes widening, “you really are a supermodel.” Ms. Al-Jamil grins as she sits down daintily in the chair across from her. 

“Looks aren’t everything,” Ms. Al-Jamil says. Then she winks. 

“But they don’t hurt.” Amanda laughs.Then Tahani frowns as if she's thinking deeply. 

“You know, that’s actually kind of a lie.”    
  
“What do you mean?” 

“My quirk is that when I feel like I’m in danger, my perfectly white teeth start to emit rays of blinding light.” Amanda laughs. 

“I love it. What a supermodel quirk. Your teeth are so pretty that they're blinding? My quirk is so lame, you know? It just makes it so that I can project my voice louder than average people.” 

“Like Present Mic?”

“Is he that radio talk show hero from Japan?” 

“Yes,” Tahani says, “he and I have gotten coffee a few times.” 

“Do you know everyone, Ms. Al-Jamil?” Amanda asks with wide eyes. 

“I wish,” she says, “I’ve never met most of the famous Japanese heroes.” Amanda grins. 

“You might be in luck then. I have it on authority that Deku is in the city right now.” It’s Tahani’s turn to have her eyes widen. 

“Wait, really? Deku? Baby All Might?” Amanda giggles. 

“You’ll have to talk to our next guest about it.” 

“That is no fair, Amanda. You can’t just dangle the most world’s most famous hero in front of me like that.” 

“All’s fair in talk shows and war, Ms. Al-Jamil.” 

“Tahani is fine, Amanda. At least, it's fine if you get me a chance to get coffee with Deku." 

"I can't promise that, Tahani, but I can promise you can talk to someone who knows him."

"Alright then," Tahani huffs. 

“Tahani,” Amanda says, “you have always been involved in philanthropic efforts, but in this past year, it seems as though your efforts have shifted. You went from organizing charity banquets at famous venues and chatting with celebrities, to becoming a monk for awhile. Then you started doing the same thing, but it seems as though you’ve had another change of heart. Now you're living in Sydney, working with the university, charities in town, founding your own and doing real good work. What changed?" 

“The first time that I tried to make a change in my life, I didn’t have a proper support network. While I wanted to make a change, I was all alone. Then someone offered me the fame and fortune that I missed, and I caved. This time, I met people who wanted to get better too. They helped me focus more on actually helping people and less on glamor and revenge.”

"Revenge?" Amanda asks, "what do you mean by that?" 

“I used to do everything that I did to try to spite my sister.” 

“Wait, you were trying to spite Kamilah?” Tahani bites her lip. 

“Yes. Our parents always favored her, and I just wanted to be better than her at something. Anything. It’s hard to be the average twin of a child protege.” Amanda visibly grimaces. 

“I interviewed Kamilah for this show a few years ago. She’s an accomplished woman.” 

“Oh, there’s no denying that. That’s what made me so jealous.” Tahani shifts in her seat.

"I think I understand. Kamilah is impressive, but in a way that's intimidating. She doesn't seem warm." 

“She's not, at least, she didn't used to be. We’ve made up now. I understand that it was wrong to hate her and try to destroy her, but she admitted that she always treated me like I was less than her because she had to be better than me or she wasn’t worth anything. We’re in a healthier place now, but realize now how much of my life I wasted trying to best her. Now I’m just trying to be the best version of me.” 

“And the best version of you involves pioneering academic studies in Sydney, helping to fund local outreach programs and local art and culture, and starting up a pageant system to help young girls find their skills, show them off, and gain access to scholarships.”

"It really does. All of these things have become so important to me." 

"These pageants that you've introduced have a component of glamor, but they focus mainly on building young girls' talents, love of volunteering, scholarship, and leadership. Why is that?" 

"While I love looking good and don't think that people should ever be faulted for that, I also know that it's a bit of a hollow pursuit. We have to work on our inner improvement more than our outer improvement." 

"And you want to help other young women discover this?" Amanda asks. 

“I do. I’ve found that mentoring young women is one of my greatest callings in life,” Tahani says, “I just don’t want anyone to feel worthless the way that I did. My best friend, Eleanor Shellstrop, has been very supportive.” Amanda nods, as if she knows who Eleanor is beyond “friend”. 

“She was another member of the study. She’s also my roommate.” Amanda nods. 

“That’s cool. You don’t strike me as the type that would have a roommate.” 

“Yes, it’s been quite strange, but I’ve quite liked it as well. I don’t know where I’d be without my roommates.” 

“There’s more than one?” 

“Yes. There’s also my friend Jason, who’s a dancer, and my friend Chidi, who’s a professor of moral philosophy.” 

“That must be an interesting rooming situation.” Tahani grins. 

“You have no idea.” 

“Are any of you, uh,” Amanda says, “are any of you dating?” Then she coughs. 

"Are  _all_ of you dating?" 

“I can't tell you, Amanda, because quite honestly I have no idea." 

“That’s fair.” 

“We might not know our relationship status, but we know that we're important to each other. We all work together, trying to make ourselves and each other better. We try to come up with ideas for projects to improve the world.” 

“Like a think tank.” 

“More like a feelings tank, but you get the idea.” 

“I think that’s lovely, Tahani.” A different song starts playing that the Helen Reddy opening. It's a bouncy, techno theme. "We can be heroes, we can be heroes," David Bowie sings. 

“Tahani, I am so sorry, but it looks like we have to cut this a little short. It’s time for our next guest. We have to talk to another hero now." 

“The one who knows Deku?” 

“Uh,” Amanda says, rubbing her knee, “knows is a bit of an understatement, but you can talk to her when she’s done interviewing.” 

“Alright, Amanda. Have a good second interview!” Then Tahani gracefully walks off stage. Almost immediately afterwards, another tall woman in a pair of khakis, brown loafers, and a pink blouse walks out. David Bowie stops singing. 

"Our next guest grew up in Silicone Valley, California working in her father's support lab. She went to high school at the prestigious "I-Island Academy", spent a few years working at Support firms in Europe, and now owns and runs her own Support Company based in Tokyo, Japan. Please welcome Dr. Melissa Shield!" 

“Dr. Shield! Thank you so much for coming!” Dr. Melissa Shield sends her a look. 

“You just threw me under a very strange bus with that interview, Ms. Ashford.” Amanda shrugs. 

“Sorry about that,” she says, grinning widely, “I thought it might be funny.” 

“Because I need more people trying to meet my husband while we’re here in America.” 

“Well, you two _are_ some of the biggest celebrities in the world. It’s not as though you can fly under the radar as the world’s most well known creator of Support technology and the Number One Pro Hero.” 

“You can call us Sword and Shield, it’s alright.” Amanda bites her lip. 

“I remember seeing in an interview that you weren’t fond of that press nickname.” 

“It’s grown on me over the years.” 

“Well, it is kind of sweet. Your name is Shield, of course, but you're also kind of his Shield because you create all his Support technology." Dr. Shield nods. 

"And he's sword because it sounds better than Mr. Kick-boxing." Amanda giggles.

"Good point, Dr. Shield." Amanda allows the laughter to settle down in the crowd.

"Speaking of your support tech," she says, which is not her strongest segue as a talk show host, "what is your favorite piece that you’ve ever made?”

“Full Gauntlet, by far. Anything that gets Izuku to break his bones less is a good thing in my book.” Amanda laughs. 

“Once those old videos of him at high school surfaced, Deku breaking his bones did become a bit of a meme, didn’t it?” 

“I would be mad if it weren’t quite so funny," Dr. Shield whispers with a big grin. Amanda starts moving her arms the way that white women sometimes do when they start to rap. 

“I’ll break my bones like Deku break my bones like Deku break my bones break my bones break my bones like Deku.” Dr. Shield is laughing now, and the audience is laughing right along with her. Amanda lets the crowd settle down, and then Dr. Shield opens her mouth to speak. 

“I never heard that one, I guess that’s the problem with living in Japan. I miss all the English memes.” 

“But you do have more opportunities to work with the quirked population,” Amanda says, “the quirked population in Japan is far higher than it is in America, isn’t it?” Dr. Shield nods. 

“Here in America, only about forty percent of the population has a quirk, but in Japan it’s closer to ninety three percent. It’s a little hard always being the only quirkless person in a room.”

"Not any harder than always being the smartest person in a room, I'd assume." Dr. Shield rolls her eyes. 

"You don't have to flatter me, Ms. Ashford." 

"I'm not," Amanda assures her, "I've seen some of the tech you've created for your new "safe emergent quirks" initiative. It's so innovative and effective.  Your work with parents of children with dangerous quirks to help keep all involved parties safe is impressive, especially since you always give the gear to the parents for free. Why did you decided this was something you wanted to pursue." 

“After learning about what happened to Shigaraki Tomura, I didn’t want that to ever happen to another kid.” 

“What exactly happened to Shigaraki Tomura? All I know is about is criminal record and his eventual arrest.” 

“Shigaraki has a decay quirk, you know?” Amanda nods. 

“Back when he was a kid, he couldn’t control it. His parents couldn’t either, and they didn’t know how to help him. He ended up disintegrating his parents. That’s how All for One found him, apparently, crying in his parents ashes.” Amanda’s eyes widen. 

“That’s terrifying.” 

“One of the most important elements of this program is finding parents and children with dangerous quirks that they can’t control and giving them the resources to keep themselves safe until the kids get older and learn how to control them. We don’t want anymore Shigarakis.” Amanda nods. 

“That’s an admirable goal. Does Shield have any other outreach programs?” 

“We have programs that help quirkless children as well. Quirkless children in Japan deal with a lot of bullying, both from other children and from adults. There’s this sentiment that we quirkless people are at a lower point in the evolutionary chain.” Dr. Shield’s look darkens. 

“Some people call quirkless people worthless, or worse. Abuse of quirkless children is rampant, both by other children and adults. This program doesn’t just seek to teach quirkless children and adults to value themselves and their perspective, but seeks to teach quirked people to value them too. Quirked people have to learn to respect and value quirkless people too, or those kids will never be safe.” Amanda nods. 

“That sounds like an admirable goal. And one that’s close to your heart.” 

“There’s a lot of kids getting bullied for just being born without a quirk. So many kids who think that they aren’t worth anything or that they can’t be a hero because they don’t have a quirk, but I’m right here, doing what I love and helping people. I want other quirkless kids to know they can do that too.” Amanda nods.

"I think that's very important." Then she gets a teasing glint in her eyes. 

"You know, teaching kids that they can do anything is really important, right?" Dr. Shield sends her a cautious look. 

"And anything includes, you know, being a man on a talk show for women." 

"I am not asking my husband if he wants to do a segment for Girl Power, Ms. Ashford." Amanda giggles. 

“You can’t even _ have  _ him on this show. It’s all for women, right?” 

“Well, yeah,” Amanda says, “I guess you're right. But it could still be fun. We could do a “green power” episode or something. Cool people wearing green instead of all girls. It could be for April Fools Day.” Dr. Shield shrugs. David Bowie starts singing again. 

“Dr. Shield, thank you so much for being on the show! You really helped make this episode on heroism.” Dr. Shield gets up and smiles at her. 

“Thank you for having me, Ms. Ashford. It was a highlight of this trip.” Then she walks off stage. 

“Our next guest is from Vattier, Louisiana, a town of ten thousand people sixty miles North of New Orleans. She's the daughter of one of the highest ranking women in the American Air Force and America’s own former Number One Pro Hero! Give it up for the new Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau!” The crowd cheers. A young black woman, somewhere in late teens or early twenties, walks out from backstage. Her skin is a medium brown, slightly darker than Tahani Al-Jamil's. Her tightly curled hair falls freely down her back. She’s wearing the iconic Captain Marvel costume. 

“I really shouldn’t have come in costume,” she says, and her heavy footsteps can be heard distinctly as she tromps across the stage. 

“But it’s so nice,” Amanda says, “gives the show a gravitas.” Ms. Rambeau rolls her eyes. 

“As if Dr. Melissa Shield didn’t give the show a gravitas.” Amanda shrugs. 

“Maybe the show just always has a gravitas,” She suggests. Ms. Rambeau grins. 

“So, Ms. Rambeau-” 

“Oh god, don’t call me Ms. Rambeau, that makes me sound so old. Just call me Monica.” Amanda smiles knowingly. 

“Monica,” she corrects, “you decided to become Captain Marvel when your mother retired?” 

“I did,” she says, “I thought that it was important work. I got the powers and my mom needed to retire. I decided that someone needed to fill the void, and it’s not like someone else was stepping up.” 

“It’s not about the family legacy?” 

“Not really,” Monica says, “it’s more about people needing saved.” Amanda smiles. 

“That’s such a selfless thing to say. Sounds like a true hero." Monica nods. 

"But while we're on the concept of the family legacy, how does your quirk work?” 

“It works just like my mom’s. I have the same powers.” 

“I mean, well, how did you get the same quirk as your mom. As far as I know, you’re only biologically related to your _other_ mother, Maria Rambeau.” 

“Carol's powers came from the radiation from alien tech. I got it when I spent too much time around her.” 

“Oh, so this is the nuclear radiation superpowers route, like in the old comic books.” 

“Uh huh.” 

“What was your quirk before that?” 

“I had great distance vision. I could kind of zoom in on things that were far away like the stars.” 

“I bet that’s a great skill for a superhero who flies to have.” 

“It really is. It’s gotten me out of a ton of spats.” 

“In the United States, superheros can be independent contractors. As long as they’re licensed, they don’t have to be affiliated with an agency like Japanese heroes do.” 

“That’s correct. I’m not affiliated with an agency.” 

“Do you plan to be?” 

“No,” Monica says, “I don’t.” 

“Why is that?” 

“I don’t think that agencies always have people’s best interests in mind. At least here in America, a lot of agencies are more concerned with making money than with helping people. An agency in Mississippi recently refused to help provide hurricane relief because the neighborhood was too poor to help pay them. Me and the local authorities had to do all the cleanup by ourselves.” 

“That’s hideous. Heroes are supposed to help people, right?” 

“Yeah, that’s what real heroes do. People like my mom or Deku.” 

“Have you talked to Dr. Shield yet?” 

“Yeah,” Monica says, and there’s huge smile on her face, “she says that she and Deku want to take me and my moms out to dinner. She even says that she has some ideas for support gear that could help me be a better, safer hero. She’d be willing to make it for me for free.” 

“That’s really generous of her,” Amanda says, “but honestly, that sounds just like Dr. Shield. She just seems like she wants to help people." Monica nods. 

"But then again," Amanda says, "you do too. Do you have any plans for how to move forward as a hero, Ms. Rambeau?” 

“I want to help my community. Most Pro Heroes move to big cities and then make tons of money off merchandising, but I want to stay in Louisiana and try to help revitalize my area. Then, I can help people in my own area and hopefully, if I get lucky enough that people want to buy merch of me, they can take some local pride and I can pump that money right back into my area.” 

“That’s admirable, and true,” Amanda says, “I was from a small town in Indiana, and my best friend growing up wanted to become a Pro Hero. She moved to Chicago and then never looked back. Even though our town had a high rate of crime and a pretty high quirked crime rate, we never had any professionals who were equipped to deal with it because all the heroes moved away.” Monica nods. 

“That’s exactly it. I just want to make sure that everyone around me is safe. If any worldwide emergencies come up, I’ll help with them, but I mainly just want to be a friendly, state-wide Captain Marvel.” 

“Wise words from a wise woman.” 

“I’m not a woman,” Monica says, “I’m just twenty.” 

“You are woman hear you roar,” Amanda sings, not hitting any of the pitches right, “with powers too great to ignore-” 

“Amanda-” The woman grins. 

“I am sure that you are going to make an amazing hero, Monica. I’m sure that you’ve already made both of your moms very proud.” Monica Rambeau grins. Amanda gestures towards the back and David Bowie's "Heroes" starts playing again. 

“Thank you so much for being on the show,” Amanda says. Then she meets Monica’s eyes. 

“I only invite the best," she says firmly. Monica smiles shyly. 

“Until next time, girls, stay powerful!” Amanda puts her fist out and Monica bumps it.  Then, in unison, they shout, “GIRL POWER!”


End file.
